A Radical Fix for the North Korea Problem

I don’t have to tell you how serious the North Korea issue is. It’s clearly getting even worse. We are close to the level of severity of the Cuban missile crisis, even beyond. Is there anything to be done about it?

So far all strategies have failed. Talks, sanctions, negotiations, threats, hacking. The only thing left is war. But if that happens we are in a different universe and a bad if not unthinkable one to boot. In any case North Korea could even “win” a war. So that’s not a solution.

We could wait it out. That’s essentially the current strategy. But what if he’s not bluffing? Remember the last big time we thought a leader was bluffing and he wasn’t and it caused World War II? So that’s not an option either.

So we have to think outside the box. Here we go. How about we invite North Korea to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council?

Yes that’s unthinkable too to many if not all people. This is a rogue State that mistreats its own people and thumbs its nose at everyone.

But the fact is that nothing is going to stop it becoming a nuclear power, and a dangerous one if not somehow hemmed in. If we let it become one without doing anything it will probably be a worse actor than if it had been somehow engaged with the rest of the world.

As a member of the UN Security Council it would have a veto. So be it. It would be equal to the big Five, the US, China, Russia, the UK and France. It would be like having the Soviet Union having the veto in the days of Stalin. But you know the old saying: keep your friends close to you, and your enemies even closer.

How about signing a real peace treaty with North Korea, instead of the truce we now have had for so long? We (the West) have always resisted that. I think that’s probably one of the first ports of call to setting things to rights with them.

I would want to offer Kim Jong Un the opportunity to address the UN General Assembly. I think he would like that.

Also the US Houses of Congress. Why not?

It’s clear that Kim Jong Un would win big from such a move. He would be recognized globally in the largest way possible, and that’s really exactly what he wants: respect. So give it to him.

In that he’s no different to people we know fairly well starting with the US President. But that’s why Putin is where he is, not to mention Xi Jinping. So you can’t punish someone for being narcissistic and wanting respect, especially if it’s going to advance your own wider objectives.

My bet is that if you did this North Korea would accept. They would probably want us to drop sanctions, which I think would be a low price to pay.

And they would also demand that they be allowed to go nuclear with the world’s consent. That’s ok; they’re going to do it anyway, just like the Iranians, Israelis, Indians, Pakistanis and maybe others (the Japanese?). Actually we’re not giving anything away if we agree to that; it’s already a done deal.

But the quid pro quo is that suddenly we’d have thousands of North Korean functionaries in the UN and its agencies not to mention entering the global economy as traders, merchants, even as intellectuals, amazingly. Maybe we could even learn a thing or two from Kim Jong Un’s North Korea. Autarchic countries usually do amazing things you can’t even imagine, like wartime Germany in World War II.

Having all those North Koreans ranging the globe would be like the post-Cold War period when we had thousands of Soviet personnel throughout world trade and institutions. Sure they were gruff, grumpy and hostile, but even Russia today is better than the Soviet Union of 1949. The engagement worked; over the long-term, maybe, but it worked.

About the author

Dr. E. Ted Prince is CEO and Founder of the Perth Leadership Institute, which has developed unique leadership assessments for financial leadership and business acumen. He is the author of The Three Financial Styles of Very Successful Leaders, published by McGraw Hill in 2005 and since published in China, India and Taiwan and Business Personality and Leadership Success: Using the Leadership Cockpit to Improve Your Career and Company Outcome published by Amazon Kindle in 2011. He has numerous publications in the area of leadership, management, human resources, business strategy and technology and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He has held the positions of Visiting Lecturer at the University of Florida and Visiting Professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Dr. Prince has been CEO of several companies in the technology area over a period of 20 years including Chairman and CEO of a public company for 6 years. He has also been on the boards of numerous other companies including several public companies.

Dr. Prince holds a BA First Class Honors degree in languages and political science from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and MA and Ph.D., degrees in political science from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.